Not exactly. Correlations are evidence for conditions being linked. They just don't say how; a high correlation between A and B could mean that A causes B, that B causes A, or that both A and B are caused by some C. And with bad enough data, "random chance" is one possible C.

90% of the work of good social science is coming up with ways to distinguish between these cases.

edited 6th Aug '10 12:20:52 PM by Nornagest

I will keep my soul in a place out of sight,Far off, where the pulse of it is not heard.

This is more like Insane Troll Mathematics, but one right wing commentator in Finland, in connection to the recent attack on the Helsinki Gay Pride parade made the calcualtion that since there were 5,000 people in the parade, in a nation of 5 million, gays are just 0,001% of the population, thus the laws should be changed to accomodate a minority that small.

Yes. Seriously.

edited 7th Aug '10 1:44:05 AM by JethroQWalrustitty

This love so bold goes undeclared/a joy unseen, a world unknown/a love that dare not speak its name/hidden treasure, precious stone

So this guy comes up with a plan to reduce the budget deficit. It includes both huge tax cuts and huge cuts to entitlement programs. He goes to the CBO and asks them for an estimate - only he tells them to assume revenue will stay constant, while scoring the savings from cuts to entitlement programs, essentially pulling all those savings out of his arse. And, of course, the US media buys it...

one right wing commentator in Finland, in connection to the recent attack on the Helsinki Gay Pride parade made the calcualtion that since there were 5, 000 people in the parade, in a nation of 5 million, gays are just 0, 001% of the population, thus the laws should be changed to accomodate a minority that small.

@jewel: Ah, finally a chance to use the St. Augustine-through-Korgy quote I've had saved for a while:

It should be noted that St Augustine hit on this problem quite some time ago, when he noted that the scriptures were the creation of the church and the world the creation of God. As such, when our understanding of the world and our understanding of the scriptures come into conflict, the world must trump scripture, as it has a more direct connection to God.

I'm convinced that our modern day analogues to ancient scholars are comedians. -0dd1

@Kara: That would be quite blasphemous then, as you're essentially saying that something a human had to write down is more canonical than something God himself wrote by the word of the very same book you are using to ignore science.

And, of course, even if God doesn't care about blasphemy there's still the matter of getting in the way of scientific progress.

I'm convinced that our modern day analogues to ancient scholars are comedians. -0dd1

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